Wife is buying me a wood dash kit for Christmas. There's quite a few to choose from and I don't want to make a mistake. Which one is a really good one to get? I'm in the U.S. If that makes a difference. Also, how do I verify the color?

 

I've heard good about B&I. However, I don't think I have seen a perfect match in the photos on the internet as of yet. It's practically impossible to acquire a certain match based on just photos since the type and settings of the camera (not to mention prevailing conditions, sunlight vs. clouded over etc) used to take the photo & the type and settings of the display used to view the photo have such a massive impact. For a discouraging example, here's photos I took with three different cameras to compare my non-matching gear surround & ashtray to the dash veneer:


What are you going to use it on? Just the center console, or also the smaller bits like headlight switch panel, air outlet surrounds, etc?

 

I'm going for a kit that has all 26 pieces. How many wood choices were there for the x type? I've only ever seen the one I have. Is there a way that I can find the name of the wood that I have to at least get me close to a match?

 

I'm trying to upload a pic of the wood I have. Let me see if I did this right from my iphone.

 

If I'm not mistaken, the basic wood for Europe was bird's eye maple (like mine, you can see the "eyes" pattern in the photo collage I posted) and pomme sapelle for US. Some of the highest-spec models (like the Sovereign in Europe) had walnut and the 2008 facelift introduced at least rosewood as well. Then there's of course piano black, which is also real veneer but practically looks like shiny black plastic because of the finish.

Yours doesn't look like maple (no "eyes") nor walnut burl, I'd be inclined to say it should be pomme sapelle. You should probably ask your dash trim company of choice for a sample piece and then compare it to the real veneer you have.

EDIT:
Hmm?
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...80/#post568892

 

According to the spec printout my Jaguar it has pomme sapelle.
It looks different to the photo.


On mine, for some reason, the ashtray and gear selector are a different wood.
The previous, first, owner would not have changed it.
I am still hoping to get the proper wood but earlier in the year I enquired and the two bits were £300+ ouch!!!


As this finish seems to be rare in the UK and I have not seen any used bits for sale and it is difficult to determine from an advert what "Jaguar 2005 " is or assume the seller really knows I am still in hope.